The EFTM podcast – Solving those WiFi Woes – plus Refurbished phones – good or not?

Episode: Solving those WiFi Woes – plus Refurbished phones – good or not?
Podcast: EFTM
Date: 4 August 2026
Hosts: Trevor Long

[00:00:03] Voice Over: The EFTM podcast. Talkback Technology. Got a question about tech? Trev's here to help. Not sure what to buy? Ask Trev. Australia's number one talkback technology podcast.

[00:00:33] Voice Over: Join the conversation. Head to eftm.com and click Ask Trev. Helping Australians with tech questions for over 15 years, the EFTM Podcast with Trevor Long.

[00:00:44] Caller: Real Australians, real questions, every week.

[00:00:50] Voice Over: You can text Trev now, thanks to Vodafone, on 0477 657 657.

[00:01:11] Trevor Long: Thank you very much for listening. Thank you for downloading. Great to have your company on the EFTM podcast. We'll get to lots of your calls today, uh, plenty of people lined up ready to chat. Uh, 0477657657, send me a text, we'll get you on the show. Producer Rob will line you up for our next recording session. We've got a few left before we head to IFA in Berlin, hopefully to an Apple event for iPhone 18 and such. And then a little family holiday. So there'll be, there'll be, there'll be a gap, you know what I'm saying. Um, that's all to come, but we'll keep punching through as best we can over the, over the weeks ahead. But yeah, lots of calls coming up on refurbished phones, modems. Uh, we're gonna, uh, I think we're gonna check back in with Dean, who was it only last week we spoke to Dean about his, uh, 500 meg speed internet and the fact that he was getting a rubbish speed through his house. Dean's already been back in touch having followed my advice, so we'll see how he's going with that. So no matter what your question, whether you want a bit of buying advice or assistance technically, whatever it is, get in touch. I'll try and help you out. You can use the EFTM app, download that. There's something to win every single week. Right now the prize is a stunning JBL PartyBox 130. That is an awesome speaker that you can, you can absolutely light up your next party with. It's a big beast of a speaker too. This is, this is not mucking around here, folks. The PartyBox speakers from JBL are outstanding. It's a $600 speaker, lights up with great sound to make your next party just absolutely epic. So there's still chances to win that. That doesn't close until the evening of the 9th of August. So yeah, plenty, plenty of great products to win every single week here on EFTM at the EFTM app. Next week there's an all-in-one, 14-in-1 Thunderbolt docking station from D-Link. And that's going to be awesome. The week after that, I know what the prize is, but I can't put it on the website yet. So because it's in— the product is embargoed until like the 13th. I think I might have told you this like, wait, like the embargo till the 13th and then I can put it on the app. So we're giving away something that is so new, I can't even announce that we're giving it away, which is awesome. So many more weekly giveaways still to come. And, uh, that's just a way of keeping you engaged in the EFTM app and hopefully getting notifications of every article we write, uh, right here on EFTM. And one of the articles I wrote this week was about the Ecovacs GOAT A2000 robot lawnmower, which was a fascinating upgrade for me because I'd had the Ecovacs original GOAT, the G1. We called it Gary. So I've called this one George, George the GOAT. I've started using Seinfeld names for all my robots. I don't know why. Um, anyway, uh, It's got an edge trimmer, which is like a game changer right now. There's a couple of edges of my lawn it's doing a great job on. There's a couple it's struggling on because they've got like bushes near them, and so it doesn't— it thinks there's an obstacle there, so it goes around the bush so it doesn't actually get to the edge. I need, I need a robot that's going to go, I'm going to ignore that and just drive through and cut this edge. Um, so look, I'm still going to have to do some whipper snippering, but less, less, which is a win. Um, and it also doesn't require the beacons that the last EGO MaxGoat required. It's, uh, you just drive it around the boundary and that's your boundary. However, I will say this, I'm also reviewing a couple other ones, and I've got a robot mower for the first time in my front yard. And my front yard, not to brag, is 3 large bits of grass, like 290 square meters of grass, because I live on a corner block and And so there's a driveway that goes from corner to corner. So there's a piece of grass in front of their house, a piece of grass on the literal corner inside the driveway, and there's a piece of grass on the side of the house. And this mower, without spoiling the review, is happily cutting low, by the way, cutting lower than I've ever mowed, um, crossing the driveway where I've told it to and doing each part in its own particular direction pattern. Um, so plus I've got 2 other mowers and a second one from Ecovacs, so 3 more mowers still to, still to set up and review at home. Um, so it's going to be the, uh, the summer of robot mowers, I think. So stand by for those, folks. It's a, it's a lot coming in the robot mower space, and I think it's a good thing. They're not cheap, but the thing is, yes, it's lazy in some ways, but I've always loved doing my, my front lawns, but now that I see how well this is mowing, I'm seeing the imperfections in my lawn. So I'm going to put my efforts into fixing those imperfections. So I'm going to— there's a real dip where there used to be a tree 20 years ago which was removed, and it's obviously rotting away the roots, so it's creating a dip in the grass. I'm going to cut that grass up and throw some dirt in and try and fill the, fill the dip a bit. I'm going to try and do it better. Plus I'm still going to do the edges out there because This, this other one that I'm using doesn't have edge trimming, and you put it near a gutter, it might fall off, and I don't want any issues with cars. So I'm being very, uh, conservative with my boundary, which is a tough thing to do on a tiny little map on an app, but it is what it is. Um, anyway, so, uh, yeah, lots of robot mowers coming. If you've got a robot mower, I'd love to hear from you. Please get in touch. I'd love to hear from you. Tell me what you think. Tell me how you use it. Tell me what brand you have. And if you're thinking about one, let's talk. Let's talk robot mowers, folks. Until then, we'll take your calls right here on the EFTM podcast.

[00:06:40] Voice Over: This is the EFTM podcast.

Steve — Choosing a new phone to replace a 7-year-old Oppo

[00:06:45] Trevor Long: Great to have your company. Would love to help you out if I can. 0477 657 657. Steve's on the line. G'day, Steve.

[00:06:52] Steve: Good morning, Trevor.

[00:06:53] Trevor Long: Mate, what can I do for you?

[00:06:55] Steve: Well, I'm an old retired bloke who gets a bit overwhelmed with tech stuff.

[00:07:02] Trevor Long: Mate, young working people get overwhelmed by tech stuff, so the demographic doesn't matter.

[00:07:09] Steve: My existing Oppo phone, Android, is quite old and needs to be retired.

[00:07:16] Trevor Long: How long you reckon you've had it for?

[00:07:17] Steve: Oh, about nearly 7 years.

[00:07:20] Trevor Long: Mate, you've got a strong life out of that. Well done.

[00:07:23] Steve: Yeah, I must admit I'm not I'm not too big a user with phones, etc., and computers. But what I'm trying to get you to help me with is how do I get or target a particular phone that will accommodate my needs and wants, which I'm happy to describe to you in a moment.

[00:07:51] Trevor Long: Why are you getting rid of it for a start? What's the challenge with it right now?

[00:07:56] Steve: Look, it's— I have spoken to OfferUp and they sort of said it's probably past its maturity date, but apart from that, it's— I do have a couple of email bits and pieces coming in and it used to be able to get— I used to be able to tap into that and send back to the people sending me the emails, the answers or the return call in an email. And that stopped working. And I only can get one of the emails and not the other one. So it's all of that sort of seems to be getting to a situation where it does need to be kicked out and get a new one.

[00:08:48] Trevor Long: Look, I mean, that's a strange problem to have, to be honest, because that's kind of a fundamental part of the phone. I would've thought that had worked pretty well still. I feel like you're resolved to the fact that you're gonna get a new phone. So let's focus on that. Do you have a budget in mind?

[00:09:07] Steve: Not really, but I've talked to a couple of my friends who are a bit more tech savvy than me and they said you should be able to get away with $500 or $600 worth. But I wanna be guided by you on that. Just another thing too, Strange things happen to me with tech stuff. I've got to tell you, I think I've got some sort of curse. And so don't be surprised if it should be still working, but it's not.

[00:09:33] Trevor Long: And let's be clear, that's a 7-year-old phone. Yeah, that's— that's, that's a great life for a phone. I could tell you a couple of things to do, like a factory reset, a new battery. Like if you tell me the battery life, there's a bunch of things you can do to prolong the life of that phone. But in reality, Steve, 7 years is probably the limit. I actually, as much as I would want you to work your way through it, I don't want you to have a 7-year-old phone because there are some things that might be restrictive and they could relate to things like AusAlert and stuff like that. I'd prefer that you had something that met today's standards. But your friends are right, you do not need to spend crazy money. I've always said for a long, long time, I've said that the, $400 to $800 price point, whether it's the 4 to 6 or the 6 to 8. With the— under $400, you're going to have a phone that is good, it's going to do the job, but you know, it's going to be maybe a bit sluggish in opening things, it's not going to have the greatest camera. Over $800, you're getting things that you probably won't even notice. So it's the perfect place to be, is that $500 to $600 for you, um, area, Mark. Now the great thing is, in that price point You know, Motorola, if you go to JB Hi-Fi, and I'm just on the JB Hi-Fi website, Motorola G56, $500. The Nothing Phone 3A— Nothing is a brand— $599. Um, Samsung have their A series, $649. Um, there's more Motorolas. There's a new brand to Australia, but they've been around a while, Honor. Um, so basically what I'm saying to you by listing so many brands is I don't think you'll be unhappy with any phone that you buy from a major retailer between $400 and $800. And if we, if we were to break it down a bit more specific, that, that kind of $500 to $650 price point, there's several there as well. There's a brand new Oppo Reno 15F, um, because you've had the Oppo and mate, the Oppo's been good. Why, why, why not stick with them, you know? That's normally nearly $700. It's currently $550. So I do think that if you were to walk into JB Hi-Fi with $600 cash, you could walk out with either a nothing phone, a Motorola, or an Oppo and be very, very happy with them. Yeah, you'll be blown away when you set it up. First of all, you'll be like, oh, I can respond to emails finally. But then you'll be like, oh wow, these apps open fast. Oh, the screen's bright. Oh, the battery's good. Oh, the camera's good. So even though you don't use it a lot, you'll probably realize how much better it is. 'Cause 7 years is a long time in technology.

[00:12:15] Steve: Yes. Trevor, could I just run past you some of the things that I require from the phone?

[00:12:23] Trevor Long: Yeah.

[00:12:23] Steve: Most of them are pretty silly, and you'd probably cover that now, but one was just easy to use and understand. Well, hopefully that they all are, but for me, they all are.

[00:12:32] Trevor Long: Well, the good thing is you've been in Android already. So any of them are going to work as, as well as that last one. I would, I would say to you, you know what, I'm going to, I'm going to eliminate the Nothing phone from my list for you because if you set it up as a Nothing branded phone, there's some weird quirks to the operating system. They've tried to tweak it and make it— it is very cool, my 14-year-old loves it, but I'm going to narrow it down for you to the, to the Oppo and the Motorola at that point.

[00:12:58] Steve: Yeah, yep, okay. Um, the, um I guess they're all able to receive, compose, and send emails, although I mainly use my Lenovo IdeaPad for, uh, for that purpose.

[00:13:11] Trevor Long: Yeah, but they'll all do that. They'll all have email built in. They'll have Gmail built in. Have you got Google Mail or something else?

[00:13:17] Steve: I've got Yahoo.

[00:13:19] Trevor Long: Yahoo?

[00:13:21] Trevor Long: Yes.

[00:13:21] Trevor Long: You and Producer Rob are the, uh, the holdouts on Yahoo, you know.

[00:13:27] Trevor Long: You do.

[00:13:28] Steve: You've got to say they're giving me a bit of a tough time at the moment.

[00:13:32] Trevor Long: But what app do you use to respond to emails on the phone?

[00:13:37] Steve: Say again?

[00:13:38] Trevor Long: What app do you use to respond to emails on the phone? Is it just the Mail app or do you have the Yahoo app?

[00:13:44] Steve: Uh, Mail app.

[00:13:46] Trevor Long: Okay.

[00:13:47] Steve: Oh no, no, hold on, it's the Yahoo app.

[00:13:49] Trevor Long: Oh, it is the Yahoo app. I'm just wondering whether they're fully supported anymore. But anyway, let's find out how that goes on a new phone before we contemplate Ditching, yeah.

[00:13:59] Steve: Okay. And I take occasional photos, but not too much. And I guess they all do that.

[00:14:05] Trevor Long: Mate, anything new is gonna blow you away compared to what you have.

[00:14:09] Steve: Yep. Okay. Now this one's, is quite important to me. Able to use the phone to power my computer. That is a personal hotspot. I guess they all have them now, do they?

[00:14:21] Trevor Long: Yes. So when you say power, I'm like, oh my God, no. But to connect your computer, yes. So for Wi-Fi, they'll all have personal hotspot built in. So the fact that you know how to do that on your current phones means you'll be ready to go with the new one.

[00:14:33] Steve: Yeah. Okay. And I guess they're all able to, from the existing phone, transfer emails, contacts, photos, etc.

[00:14:40] Trevor Long: Well, those things, those things don't really live on your SIM card. They, they, they're normally in the cloud. So what I would do is I would go to a computer and I would go to photos.google.com and see whether all your photos are there. That means— because if they are, then you can just throw the phone in the bin and just set up the new one with your email address and it'll work. All right, but if they're not, then I would highly recommend getting a Gmail account and using Google Photos on your current phone to back up all your photos and find out where your contacts are stored. They're probably in Yahoo, if not a Gmail account. And then once you know where they are, so just go and write a list: where are my photos? Where are my contacts? And once you know where those two things are, everything else is a breeze because you've got to log into those services on the new phone.

[00:15:33] Steve: Right. Okay. Another question here is a lot of the phones are looking at the ads in the paper and it's 128GB or 256GB.

[00:15:46] Trevor Long: You won't be bothered by it, mate. The lower number's fine. If you've not been bothered by— you haven't mentioned to me that your current phone's full. Trust me, you'll be fine.

[00:15:54] Steve: Yeah. Okay. And I don't do any gaming or streaming. Don't need 365 for Word or anything like that. And the plan I'm on is pretty good. So I'm sure that those phones you've mentioned would accommodate that.

[00:16:09] Trevor Long: I've got no dramas there.

[00:16:11] Steve: Yeah. Okay. Can I— and thanks for that. It's a very good, healthy guide for me.

[00:16:18] Trevor Long: And honestly, at $499, the Motorola G56 is great. And at $549 currently the time we're talking. The Oppo Reno 15 is great value. Both of those awesome phones.

[00:16:32] Steve: All right, okay.

[00:16:33] Trevor Long: I'm pretty sure they both come with a little clear case as well, so they've, they've got a level of protection built in.

[00:16:38] Steve: Okay, so Motorola G56.

[00:16:41] Trevor Long: Yep. And Oppo Reno 15F for Freddy. Oppo Reno 15F.

[00:16:47] Steve: Yeah, okay. I must admit, from trying to get some sense out of Oppo when talking to the to them, and they've been very helpful, although I had a real problem. You probably don't want to— you probably want to get on to the next call, but I had a situation where the phone had a super power mode. It was initiated because it was running short. And I couldn't get any sense out of anybody to how to fix it. They tried different things and nothing would do it. So I went to one of their people who are sort of able to do it and they just said, "Get a new— you need to get a new cover or screen." And that, when the doors are— anyhow, the long story short, stories. And after a week, it actually just came back. There's a message on the phone and it said, you've been on superpower mode for blah blah blah a week, and, uh, do you want to still remain? And I clicked the button, said no, and that was back to school.

[00:18:01] Trevor Long: So that's crazy.

[00:18:02] Steve: Yeah. Last thing, mate, I know you've got— and I really appreciate this, but I don't want to milk it too much, but, um, uh, do I— for my phone and also my IdeaPad. I did have some security via Norton. In fact, I had it from another company and then Norton, but I have cancelled Norton, so I don't have any specific—

[00:18:29] Trevor Long: I would like you to have security on both devices.

[00:18:31] Steve: Yes. Any suggestions on—

[00:18:34] Trevor Long: We have a great relationship and a partnership as advertisers with Trend Micro, now known as Trend Micro. They have great coverage, multiple device, 1-year subscription, 2-year subscription, choose the number of, put it on your PC, your phone, and your tablet, and you're covered. I think it's an absolute must-have.

[00:18:54] Steve: I used to use Trend way back, and I don't remember any problems with them. They're easy enough to install.

[00:19:02] Trevor Long: Yeah, you can go online. What you can do is you can go online now and sign up to a plan, and then you just log in to the phones. You just download the app and log in on your phone.

[00:19:12] Steve: Right.

[00:19:12] Trevor Long: Okay.

[00:19:13] Trevor Long: All right, mate. Good luck. Go to JB's. Feel those phones in your hand. The Motorola is beautiful, but the Oppo is likewise beautiful. And I think you'll find either or both of them to be fantastic. All right.

[00:19:25] Steve: Yeah. Okay. Thanks, Trevor. I really appreciate it.

[00:19:27] Trevor Long: No worries at all. Thanks for getting in touch. Love to help.

[00:19:30] Steve: Thank you.

[00:19:31] Trevor Long: Cheers, buddy. No worries at all. Yeah, I mean, it's simple, it's doable, and I think you'll end up with a great phone.

[00:19:42] Voice Over: Helping Australians with tech questions for over 15 years, the EFTN podcast with Trevor Long.

Tony — A refurbished iPhone for his daughter, and AppleCare stories

[00:19:53] Trevor Long: Happy to help wherever I can. Oh, you can get in touch, 0477 657 657. Uh, Tony's on. G'day, Tony.

[00:20:00] Tony: How are you, mate? I, um, I'm really good.

[00:20:04] Trevor Long: What can I do for you though?

[00:20:05] Tony: I contacted you the other day My daughter was wanting to buy a secondhand iPhone. Excuse me. And she'd seen it on Back Market. And basically I just wanted to contact you whether, you know, it was a legit website and that sort of thing. And as it turned out, when we sort of didn't hear back from you, a pestering 14-year-old girl. And we went ahead and we, we, we, I came home from work one afternoon, it was just like, are we gonna buy the phone, Dad? And we went ahead and bought it.

[00:20:45] Trevor Long: And that's it. They don't like waiting a day, do they? So what, what turned up at the door, mate? Did she get what she wanted?

[00:20:50] Tony: Yeah, very good, mate. Very, very happy with it.

[00:20:53] Trevor Long: So I'm just on their website now and I was gonna say, look, it looks great. It looks legitimate, it looks professional, but anyone can build a professional website. And what we're talking about here is essentially a refurbished phone. Refurbished tech. They seem to have other products as well. So you're getting a refurbished device. So she obviously wanted a specific phone and was happy to get essentially a secondhand one. Was she? She knew what she was getting in that sense.

[00:21:20] Trevor Long: Yeah.

[00:21:20] Tony: Oh, I'm sorry, but I'll very quickly tell you the story. But when she was 12, 2 years ago was the first time we decided to I'll tell you this because I'm sure anyone will find this amusing. But 2 years ago, and you know, we were going to get her a first phone. She'd had a secondhand Samsung that she'd inherited from my mother when she passed away. Well, it was starting to get a bit glitchy and that sort of thing. Anyway, she was— I'm in the Samsung ecosystem, but she wanted to get an iPhone.

[00:22:00] Trevor Long: Mm-hmm.

[00:22:01] Tony: Back then, 2 years ago, I had the money to go and buy a new iPhone. I was happy to buy a new iPhone. And, you know, it wasn't going to cause me any financial stress or anything like that. But I had heard you talking on the radio about a website where you get refurbished phones.

[00:22:49] Trevor Long: Yep.

[00:22:52] Tony: I looked it up at the time and I actually had a shortcut on the computer screen. You know, ready to go when the time comes. So I thought I'd have a go and I said to my daughter, listen, you know, Trevor Long, who's, you know, this tech guru, has suggested these refurbished phones. No, no way. I'm not getting a secondhand phone. No, no one gets secondhand phones.

[00:22:49] Trevor Long: Yeah, you can't tell your friends you got a secondhand phone, can you?

[00:22:52] Tony: No, that's right. Wasn't going to happen, but I thought I'd have a go. Anyway, so we went off to Harvey Norman. Like I said, I had no problem with the new phone, get warranty. You know, I'm very impressed with Apple, AppleCare.

[00:23:09] Trevor Long: Yes. Yeah.

[00:23:10] Tony: Because the kids have had iPads. Excuse me. And which they have cracked screens on them and AppleCare, mate, they replace them. Yeah. Brand new. So.

[00:23:24] Trevor Long: Oh, wow.

[00:23:25] Tony: So, yes, I was quite happy to buy a new phone. We stood in Harvey Norman's. Okay, this is the iPhone 14. Yeah. And she liked to— yeah, she got her hands on one, she fell in love with it. And of course, Dad being Dad, I'm sort of like putting it, the iPhone 13, which by that time was last year's model. Just like, oh, this one's a bit smaller, darling. Bit more convenient. Yeah. You know, Dad sort of likes the price of that one a little bit better, but she got her hands on the iPhone. It was an iPhone 14 Plus, I think.

[00:24:05] Trevor Long: Yeah. Yeah.

[00:24:08] Tony: Anyway, happy buying that. All right, so here we are, Trevor, 2 years later. What does she want to do? The iPhone 14 is too big, won't fit in the school bag, won't fit in the pot bag. Dad, I found a secondhand phone.

[00:24:29] Trevor Long: Love it.

[00:24:29] Tony: I thought I'd tell you the whole story because I got a laugh out of it.

[00:24:34] Trevor Long: Isn't it funny? Isn't it funny? And you know what the thing about it is? I think one of the things that, you know, we got to let parents know is that if it's not like you don't lie to your kids, you don't want them to know that it's not not new, right? But once they've taken it out of the box, it looks bloody new. Put it in a case and it looks brand new. Like, how are their friends gonna know? If they tell a little white lie to their friends, so be it, you know? But mate, it's as good as new basically would be how I'd promote secondhand phones, refurbished phones. You know, we've never had a problem with secondhand cars on the road, in the dealerships, and buying them for our kids. Why have we got a problem with phones? With refurbished phones. It just doesn't make any sense. And for teenagers, it's the perfect thing, especially given, you know, their tendency to not look after things potentially so well. So, um, what'd you do with the Plus? What'd you do with the 14 Plus?

[00:25:33] Trevor Long: Yeah.

[00:25:33] Tony: Um, well, that's one thing I'll run by you. I was gonna sell it back through the same site.

[00:25:40] Trevor Long: I was gonna say, it looks like they actually— because normally a lot of the sites like Boost Mobile and places like that, they, um, that they sell refurbished phones, but they don't buy them. They don't, they don't take them in. But it looks like, it looks like Back Market do, do that in some way.

[00:25:56] Trevor Long: Yeah.

[00:25:56] Tony: No. Well, I've already looked into it and I don't know how the money exchanges hands or anything. I'm not sure about that. I haven't. Yeah.

[00:26:05] Trevor Long: You're a Samsung man, you said. What phone have you got?

[00:26:09] Tony: I've got S23 Ultra.

[00:26:13] Trevor Long: Mate, you know what you should do? You should, you should trade it in for a new phone for yourself.

[00:26:19] Tony: Well, yeah, I had a look on the weekend. Yeah, Dad was actually thinking about himself for a change.

[00:26:25] Trevor Long: Bloody oath, mate.

[00:26:26] Tony: I thought I'll just have a— Yeah, I had a look at the S20 5s and I just like it. They're almost half price to what you pay for them new.

[00:26:38] Trevor Long: Oh, you've got the S20 5s, you know, obviously, you know, it's a year old phone now, but they keep them on the market because because they're still a great phone. Why would you have a problem with it? But, you know, it's a great phone. You should look after yourself. How many kids you got, mate?

[00:26:53] Tony: I've got the two. I've got— yeah, my daughter's the eldest and my son's a couple of years behind. He's just turned 12.

[00:27:01] Trevor Long: So you got the smartphone battle with him coming on.

[00:27:05] Tony: Yeah. Oh, no, he got his first. Same thing. He had a hand-me-down. I think he had one of my old Samsung phones and yeah, just this last— was it Christmas or his birthday? We got him. So yeah, he's in the iPhone ecosystem now.

[00:27:26] Trevor Long: All right.

[00:27:26] Tony: Well, we got him. Well, you're losing.

[00:27:28] Trevor Long: I have had that battle with my kids. I've wrangled two of them back into the Android ecosystem because I say to them, look, the Android ecosystem means that Dad can get your phones. Like, if you want a new iPhone, I'll do it once in your life and that's it. Otherwise I can't help you out. But my review phones, I've got a few lying around, so I was glad to keep them in the Android ecosystem for a while. So you lose them to Apple, they're probably gone for good, but you never know, there might be something that entices them back into a Samsung at some point or something else. You never know.

[00:27:58] Trevor Long: Yeah, we'll see.

[00:27:58] Tony: I'm the generation, mate. I'm tarnished by back in the '90s when I was first looking at my first home computer. That was when you know very well that Apple was going through that real slump. Yeah, they, they, they— everyone was saying that Apple's not going to be in business.

[00:28:19] Trevor Long: Yeah, that's right. We were buying Compaq Presarios and things because that was the— yeah, that was the computer.

[00:28:25] Tony: You know, we're talking— yeah, that would have been around the early, mid sort of '90s sort of. So I've always had that bad, bad taste in my mouth. But in saying that, when the kids were very young, we sort of got them their first gadgets. We got them just the cheap tablets, you know.

[00:28:49] Trevor Long: Yep.

[00:28:50] Tony: What are they? Novo or something?

[00:28:52] Trevor Long: So many brands.

[00:28:53] Tony: Yeah, but, but yeah. Anyway, we eventually got their iPads and yeah, mate. Yeah.

[00:29:00] Trevor Long: You can see the value of an iPad, mate. It is an impressive device. Yeah, the only way to see the alternate would be a Samsung tablet. Like their S series tablets, like their phones are exceptional, but the cheaper, the cheaper tablets come across as cheaper tablets. You know, the screen, the touch sensitivity.

[00:29:18] Tony: Yeah, we're talking about almost not, not long out of nappies. So yeah, something was going to get dropped or the phone, all that sort of thing on the floor and that sort of, which brings me back to the Apple iCare. You know, I got that with the tablets. Yeah, well, both the kids' tablets and my daughter, she, she dropped one down the stairs, smashed the screen. They replaced it in full.

[00:29:47] Trevor Long: Wow.

[00:29:47] Tony: That's also anyone who, anyone who's thinking of getting it. And how it works is what you do is you pay full price for the new iPad. IPad Air. They send it out and you send the old one back. As soon as they've got that, they refund you in full. Oh really?

[00:30:07] Trevor Long: That's interesting. Okay.

[00:30:09] Tony: Yeah. And then now, now you want to know how good it is? 6 months later, dropped the same iPad down the same flight of stairs. And yeah, mate, we had the Apple iCare, mate. Exactly the same thing.

[00:30:24] Trevor Long: Have we had a conversation about dropping tablets down, downstairs or what?

[00:30:29] Tony: Sorry?

[00:30:29] Trevor Long: Have we had the conversation about dropping tablets downstairs?

[00:30:34] Tony: Yeah, yeah, we've had that conversation. But so anyone who's thinking about the Apple, so I don't know how it is with phones, but it's the same product.

[00:30:46] Trevor Long: And you know, it is for computers, everything. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:30:49] Tony: So any, anyone who's sort of On the fence about Apple Pay. When we bought this iPhone for Indy 2 years ago, you know, Harvey Norman always wants to sell you product care. And I just said, no, I said, sorry guys, but Apple looks after us better than what you guys do. Sorry.

[00:31:11] Trevor Long: Yeah, never, never buy the extended warranty from Harvey's.

[00:31:16] Tony: And Yes. Oh yeah. Anyone who's thinking about it, the only condition is a bit of a tip to any parent out there buying their child their first phone is one condition that was not negotiable is both kids got Life360.

[00:31:35] Trevor Long: No, 100%. I think most people know that's a big thing in our house. But, but what we did, and this is always my advice, is we don't make it about tracking them, we make it about knowing how, where we all are. And so they can see me, they can see their grandparents. Like we've got the whole family thing going on. And I'll tell you to the point where my 20-year-old still uses Life360 with us. Like he didn't go turn 18 and go, I'm out of this. He doesn't care. It's like, we don't have to text him and say, you at girlfriend's house, you at work? We're like, we know. It takes away that whole thing. It's a wonderful thing.

[00:32:10] Tony: My daughter, she always whinges and whines about it, but when I'm going to go and pick her up, she's standing out the front of a friend's place because she's been tracking me drive all the way up the road.

[00:32:22] Trevor Long: Yeah.

[00:32:22] Tony: So good on you, mate.

[00:32:25] Trevor Long: You're doing a great job with them. And I'm glad the good advice on the AppleCare, and I'm glad you've found a good new phone for the— or she found her own phone. And in the end, mate, the best thing is you and I were right. Refurbished wins.

[00:32:40] Tony: Yeah, yeah.

[00:32:41] Trevor Long: Great to hear from you, mate. Thank you, Tony.

[00:32:43] Tony: It's all worked out. And when I send this phone back, I'll flick you a message and tell you how it went.

[00:32:51] Trevor Long: Good on you, mate. Thanks, Tony.

[00:32:53] Tony: I appreciate your time. Cheers, buddy. Have a good day, mate.

[00:32:55] Trevor Long: Any time at all. Good on you, mate.

[00:32:58] Tony: Cheers, bye.

[00:32:58] Trevor Long: There you go. Tony getting one up on his daughter after a couple of years when she decided to go refurbished.

[00:33:06] Voice Over: This is the EFTM podcast.

Darian — Modem vs router confusion on the NBN

[00:33:10] Trevor Long: Great to have your company and we're happy to help. If you have a tech question, send me a text. Thanks to Vodafone, 0477 657657. Darian's on the line. G'day, mate, how you doing? I'm good, yourself? Mate, really good. What can I do for you? I, I have a hard time like dealing with, I mean, I mean, um, I can't find the right internet modem.

[00:33:34] Trevor Long: Yeah, right. Who's your internet provider?

[00:33:37] Darian: TPG.

[00:33:39] Trevor Long: And what style of internet do you have? Do you know which NBN you have? Fibre to the curb, Fibre to the Node, HFC? Do you know? 500, I think. No, but which technology? I don't, I don't know.

[00:33:52] Darian: As far as I know, I have the 500.

[00:33:55] Trevor Long: Right. And, and what, what does the NBN technology look like in your home? Is it a little box of its own that has an NBN logo on it? Yeah, I think so. Yeah, then if you've got an NBN box in your home— excuse me— so the difference is if you've got fiber to the node, which is the old copper line connected to the NBN, then you do need a modem. You need something that's going to actually make the connection to the NBN. But here's the thing with anyone that's got an actual little box in the home that says NBN, that means that's what we call an NTD, a network termination device, and there's an Ethernet port in the back of that which essentially when you plug it in, that's the internet. You're on the internet. You're at the end of the internet, or the start of the internet, depending on which way you look at it. So if you've got an NTD in your home and you've got a laptop and an Ethernet cord, you can plug straight into that. You might need to turn it off, turn it back on again to get it connected, but that gives you internet. And so therefore you actually don't need a modem. What you need is a router, because what I assume you want is Wi-Fi throughout your home. Is that correct? You want to get Wi-Fi everywhere? Yeah, yeah. So what you don't— you don't need a modem, you need a router. And obviously the best router you can get is the best style of system is a mesh router system. There's a bunch of them on the market, um, from TP-Link to Amazon to Netgear. Like, it's endless the number of these there are. Depending on the size of your home depends on which one you need in terms of do I need 2 boxes or 3. But if you start off with 2, you can expand it later. And you'll end up getting 500 meg speeds everywhere in the home, as we've heard from previous callers over recent weeks.

[00:35:36] Darian: That makes sense.

[00:35:37] Trevor Long: Yeah, so basically stop looking for modems and start looking for routers.

[00:35:44] Darian: Yep.

[00:35:44] Trevor Long: All right, and you'll end up with, uh, great speeds everywhere you want it.

[00:35:49] Darian: Yeah, that's always been like confusing me.

[00:35:53] Trevor Long: I know, and it's really quite annoying that the, the telcos will also say, you know, and supplied modem or whatever like that, but Actually, in many cases, a modem is not required, and it's old— it's old terminology, essentially. We think of it as the thing that we connect to, but actually it's the router that we— so there were and still are modem routers, so they do both. They create the connection to the internet and they distribute the internet connection through the router. But you don't need the creation, you just need the distribution, right?

[00:36:22] Darian: Yeah.

[00:36:23] Trevor Long: All right, good luck, happy shopping.

[00:36:26] Darian: Thank you.

[00:36:27] Trevor Long: No worries at all. Thanks for getting in touch and always happy to help. Uh, it doesn't come much easier than that. And look, it is— it's a funny, uh, like a turn of phrase problem. It's a terminology issue that we've always talked about having a modem and connecting the modem, but with the NBN, it's like if you run an Ethernet cable from your NBN connection or your router into another room, you don't need another modem. In the other room. You just connect to it. Uh, that's what your home is, essentially just another extension of the NBN. And the NBN's tentacles come all the way to the home and they stop at that little NBN box. And it's from there that you need to then distribute your, your internet connection throughout the home. And that's the simplest way I can explain it. So hopefully Darian can get some big speeds everywhere.

[00:37:21] Voice Over: Helping Australians with tech questions for over 15 years, the EFTN Podcast with Trevor Long.

Dean — Following up on last week's Wi-Fi speed fix

[00:37:28] Trevor Long: Here to help if you've got a tech question, uh, we'd love to try and help you out wherever we can. Dean's on the line. G'day, Dean.

[00:37:38] Dean: G'day, mate.

[00:37:38] Trevor Long: How are you, mate? We spoke just last week or the week before. You, uh, you had Wi-Fi speed dilemmas. You were paying for 500, you're getting bugger all. But you gave me a pretty quick reply after doing some of the things we talked about. How's it going?

[00:37:54] Dean: Yeah, I followed all the steps that you suggested, connecting straight up to the NBN box and running the speed tests, and then I found out that the signal was coming through fantastically.

[00:38:07] Trevor Long: So directly connected with a laptop into the Ethernet and into the back of the NBN box, you're getting how much?

[00:38:16] Dean: I was getting just over 500 speed.

[00:38:19] Trevor Long: Exactly what you should be getting when you're paying for 500.

[00:38:22] Dean: Exactly. So then I backtracked and went through all the steps and apparently there's a setting I didn't even realize in the Deco system called QoS, Quality of Speed. And I'm not 100% sure what that does, but all my research says it didn't really matter unless I was a big time gamer.

[00:38:44] Trevor Long: Well, yeah. So QoS normally means this is in, as you say, gaming routers, Netgear's Nighthawk range stuff. So let's say you've got 50 devices in your home, uh, let alone 5 people, and they're all competing for traffic, right, and competing for that bandwidth. But someone's gaming, that's the number one use for it, and you've got to have that really slick speed and lag and all that kind of stuff taken away. So what you do is you give them quality of service, a QoS, and it means that they get priority on the network. So that device gets priority on the network. So how does that apply to what you were doing?

[00:39:14] Dean: I turned it off and then everything was coming through. I just did a speed test right now before we started talking and sitting here connected to the Wi-Fi, getting 538 Mbps.

[00:39:26] Trevor Long: So you're saying QoS was on? That slowed everything?

[00:39:32] Dean: It appeared to be the case. Yeah.

[00:39:34] Trevor Long: Wow. It's that simple. So after— so basically, talk me through it. You did the test and you realized you were getting the speed into the home, so there's no drama with the internet provider. And then you went, okay, what's wrong with this? This Wi-Fi system I've got because it's, it's a pretty good system. There should be no issues. And so did you essentially find that other people had had the same problem?

[00:39:55] Dean: Yeah, I tried tracing through all the different cables. Like I said to you last week, brought some new Cat6 cables thinking that was the issue. And so I sort of quickly isolated that it must have been a settings issue in the Wi-Fi. So I was going to try, you know, turning off the just going 5G and then try going to even the 2.4 and just trying as many different. And then I saw this little setting that people said.

[00:40:26] Trevor Long: So you found that in forums, you'd seen people talking about the QoS?

[00:40:30] Dean: Yeah, yeah. And so I then just decided, okay, let's try flicking it off. And it's been a week now and the speed hasn't dropped below 400 and I haven't had any issues at all connection-wise. So thank you very much for all your help, mate.

[00:40:46] Trevor Long: Isn't it frustrating that you've been dealing with those speeds for so long, yet it was right there under your nose?

[00:40:51] Dean: Yeah, it's been 6 months or so now of sort of thinking it must have been a broke, faulty line, or there must have been some system somewhere without realizing you could just plug straight into the black box and test the speeds directly. I was going thinking I was doing something wrong. And so after you gave me those tips, I started to get an idea that the speeds speed was coming in great. Had to be something internally set up wrong then. So that helped really isolate and narrow it down to just the, the Wi-Fi system itself.

[00:41:28] Trevor Long: Well, mate, enjoy the internet.

[00:41:30] Dean: Thank you, it's a pleasant surprise. Still, all of a sudden have great speeds.

[00:41:35] Trevor Long: Good on you, Dean. Thanks for getting in touch.

[00:41:37] Dean: Appreciate your help, Trev. Thanks very much.

[00:41:40] Trevor Long: Anytime, no worries at all. There you go, it really was that simple. We, uh, it's, it's that logical path of follow— finding out where the issue is, especially in a complex thing like your own network, finding out where the issue is before you then go replacing things. Unfortunately, spent some money on cables and things, but you know what, the good news there for Dean is he's got all high-quality, high-end cables and things to connect, so he will actually get the best of the network. Just silly that it was one little tick box that slowed everything down.

[00:42:09] Voice Over: Join the conversation, head to eftm.com.au. And click Ask Trev.

Jason — Upgrading from an iPhone X to a refurbished handset

[00:42:15] Trevor Long: Great to have your company. Jason's on the line. G'day, Jase.

[00:42:18] Jason: G'day, Trev. Good morning, mate.

[00:42:19] Trevor Long: What can I do for you?

[00:42:21] Jason: I don't— just, uh, just an inquiry. As an older bloke, I'm in my 50s, I just want to just see—

[00:42:26] Trevor Long: hey, hey, slow down on the old there, my man. All right, some of us are on the verge of our 50s and, uh, don't want to feel old.

[00:42:36] Jason: Enjoy every moment of it.

[00:42:37] Trevor Long: It's just those bloody, those bloody reflective things on the walls, those mirrors that make you feel old.

[00:42:43] Jason: That's true. Yeah. No, I removed those.

[00:42:47] Trevor Long: What can I do for you, buddy?

[00:42:49] Jason: But I just want to find out in regard— I don't need the latest phone, so I don't need to go to like Telstra shop or anything like that. But I wanted to find out, I remember you and Lukey Boner talking one time about getting refurbished phones from a company.

[00:43:03] Trevor Long: Yes.

[00:43:03] Jason: So I wanted to find out the best avenue in regards to that. So I'm currently with an iPhone X. Yep. Which I'm happy with, but I just wanted to see what the opportunities were for to update my phone, upgrade it.

[00:43:19] Trevor Long: Yeah, absolutely. So iPhone, what if you had to pick a number given we're about to get the 18? So the 17 is the most current one on the market now. The X is what you've got. Where do you want to land hopefully? A 13, 14, 15?

[00:43:31] Jason: Yeah, 13, 14, something like that.

[00:43:33] Trevor Long: And you are big size phone, medium size? Like what do you like?

[00:43:38] Jason: I've got the larger, the larger iPhone. Yes, yeah.

[00:43:43] Trevor Long: Okay.

[00:43:43] Trevor Long: And camera-wise, do you like to have all the features like the zooms and things? Like, because the difference in the 14s, 13s and 14s, is there's, there's one model that has two cameras, which is an ultra-wide and a standard, and then there's another model that has an extra bit of zoom built in.

[00:43:58] Jason: Okay. Um, it doesn't worry me too much. I am into photography a little bit. Um, so like I shoot with a digital SLR, um, as well. But it's, you know, phones these days, the quality of the, the picture is pretty good.

[00:44:10] Trevor Long: Yeah, pretty remarkable. Yeah, you're right.

[00:44:12] Jason: Yeah, yeah.

[00:44:13] Trevor Long: Um, so mate, if the, the place I would want you to go is Boost, boost.com.au. Yeah, so Boost Mobile, they have a— if you go to their website, they've got a thing on the top, you know, shop, and then there's plans, but at the bottom there's refurbished devices. And, and I'm on their website now and I'm just filtering it down iPhone and iPhone 14. So an iPhone 14 Plus, which is the big screen but it's the two cameras, is $599. And an iPhone 14 Pro Max, which is essentially the big, the best— that was the best one 3 and a half years ago— is $809.

[00:44:49] Jason: Wow. Okay.

[00:44:50] Trevor Long: And here's the thing, 12-month warranty. It's been through a 72-point check including is it stolen, is it broken, does the screen work, does the camera work. It's been thoroughly checked, but with a 12-month warranty. Comes to you in a box with a charger and a brick, um, and a SIM card, but you don't need to use it. That's just, uh a bonus if you wanted to switch to Boost. You do not need to though.

[00:45:11] Jason: Okay, so I can use my current SIM card in that?

[00:45:13] Trevor Long: No dramas at all. You just take the SIM tray out, put your SIM card in, and you are off to the races for either $600 or $800. Look, if you, if you wanted to get an investment that's going to last you, you know, right through, then it actually probably doesn't matter which one you get because the 14 is going to kind of come out of, uh, iOS updates at the same time, whether it's a 14 or a 14 Pro Max. Um, you know, there's, there's no real disadvantage there. And the only difference really is the, um, that camera, you know, getting that, that top-end camera. And by the way, just for comparison, the 15 Pro Max is $1,109. Okay, now remember, that was a $2,300 phone when it came out. So that's what I wanted. 15 Pro Max Is, is Apple Intelligence compatible? It's not fully compatible with the new Siri, but it is compatible with some of the, some of the AI features they've introduced in recent years.

[00:46:11] Jason: Yeah, okay, fantastic. I think even around the $600 mark, that would probably get me out of trouble.

[00:46:16] Trevor Long: I think, mate, honestly, the iPhone 14 Plus, big phone, great phone, it's going to be in good nick. It's got a 12-month warranty and it'll last you another 3 or 4 years. You're done. And then in 3 or 4 years, you get yourself an iPhone 18.

[00:46:28] Jason: Yep, that sounds perfect to me.

[00:46:30] Trevor Long: You're on a winner.

[00:46:31] Jason: Perfect. Thanks, Trev.

[00:46:32] Trevor Long: All right, buddy, no worries at all. Enjoy.

[00:46:34] Jason: Happy shopping. Really appreciate your work, mate. And, um, and do yourself a favor, get rid of the mirrors in the house and you'll be feeling a lot better about yourself.

[00:46:41] Trevor Long: There's two.

[00:46:41] Trevor Long: There's a girl and a wife in my house. That's, uh, yeah, the reason.

[00:46:46] Jason: Forget it, you're on your own there, brother.

[00:46:49] Trevor Long: Yeah, thanks, buddy.

[00:46:51] Jason: Thanks, Trev. I really appreciate you. Thank you.

[00:46:53] Trevor Long: Cheers, mate. No worries at all. Happy to help. Uh, look, it's, uh, it's, it's a great way to get a good upgrade to your phone without having to get a brand new phone. That iPhone 14 Plus is going to be cracking phone. He's going to love it compared to his, uh, his iPhone X. So there you go, boost.com.au.

[00:47:14] Voice Over: Join the conversation. Head to eftm.com and and click Ask Trev.

[00:47:21] Trevor Long: Yep, we'd love to have you on the show as we have all those last calls. Thank you to Steve, Anthony, Jason, Dean, Dorian for joining the show and asking your questions. We'll have you on the show next week if you can be part of it. I'd love to have you on. I've got someone coming for work experience in a couple of weeks. I've got to start thinking about how I pretend to have an actual job. A friend who's a friend of my daughter, but also One of my wife's best friend's son wants to get into video editing. So, I mean, we do some videos. I'm just gonna have to, I don't know, I'm gonna work out how to structure my week. I might be more disciplined than ever that week because I'll actually be sitting here and without watching the TV, I might actually do some work. You never know, could be a good week. Anyway, that's coming up. He might do really well, replace producer Rob. Could happen. Could happen, but I've got ideas. I've got some ideas about how we can take the bull by its horns and be a bit innovative. We'll see what happens. Anyway, that's a few weeks away. We'll see what happens with that. Next week I'm going to speak to someone from Amazon about something I can't tell you about yet, but by the end of this week at eftm.com, you'll realize why. And we'll bring you that interview next week, as well as your calls right here on the EFTM Podcast. See you then, folks.

[00:48:41] Voice Over: This is the EFTM Podcast.